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Auto registrations top 2m mark

Registration of automobiles in Nepal has exceeded the 2 million mark, according to the data provided by Department of Transport Management.

The DoTM has stated that, at present, around 19,500 automobiles are registered on an average every month. According to DoTM, a total of 1.99 million (1,995,404) vehicles were registered in the past fiscal year 2014-15.

As per the government data, till fiscal year 1989-90 there were 76,378 vehicles registered in Nepal. After that, it took around two decades for one million vehicles to be registered in Nepal. This means one million vehicles were registered from fiscal year 1990-1991 to 2009-10. Another million vehicles were registered in the last five years. This shows that the trend of purchasing vehicles has witnessed a significant increment in the past few years. It was only in fiscal year 2008-09 that vehicle registrations touched the six digit mark. Vehicle registrations exceeded 200,000 mark in the fiscal year 2009-10, 2012-13 and 2014-15.

Anjan Shrestha, vice president of Nepal Automobile Dealers’ Association (NADA), the increase in automobile registration shows that the country is on a development path. “Vehicles and roadways are an indication of development,” he said, adding that the trend of buying vehicles has increased since people now have the capacity to “commute easily and efficiently.”

Even though registration of new vehicles has significantly increased, new number of public vehicles has not quite gone up. The registration of n™ew bus, mini bus and micro bus, through increasing, is far from matching up with the overall vehicle growth. “The growth is significant in two-wheelers and four wheelers. And this is because of failure of government to promote mass transportation,” Shrestha said. Road infastructure, however, does not replicate the growth of automobiles, according to Shrestha. “There has been some growth in terms of increasing road connectivity. We do not have the required infrastructure to support,” Shrestha said. He added that in Kathmandu Valley, penetration of automobiles have increased by around 800 fold in past two decades, while infrastructure development has remained at just 20-25 percent.

The upward spiral of vehicle registration has continued in the last fiscal year. In fact, the year remained extraordinary for automobile dealers. Vehicle registration in the fiscal year 2014-15 was at an all time high with DoTM data showing that a total of 239,583 vehicles were registered in the fiscal year 2014-15, which is around 21 percent higher than the preceding fiscal year. In fiscal year 2013-14, 198,343 vehicles were registered.

Registrations of almost all types of motor vehicles, namely bus, mini bus, mini truck, heavy equipment, car, jeep, van, pick-up, micro, tempo and motorcycle, have swelled, according to the department.

Auto dealers attribute increasing purchasing power and inflow of remittance as the catalyst for driving up the sales of vehicles. Easy financing facility through banks and financial institution too has propelled sales. According to Nada, around 55-75 percent of cars, jeeps and vans plying on the roads were financed by banks and financial institutions. The case of two-wheelers is almost the same. As of now, financial institutions are offering loans at an annual interest rate of around 8 – 9 percent per annum.